The life of the logo

The book, as its title suggests, features a textual and visual history of 100 famous logos from their birth until the present day.

So Apple’s famous identity is shown in its original 1976 version – Ronald Wayne’s woodcut-style illustration of Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an Apple tree, through to Rob Janoff’s 1977 bitten-apple logo, later adapted by Landor and Apple’s in-house team.

And the evolution of the BP logo is shown, from its 1920’s wordmark through to the famous crest, adapted by both Raymond Loewy and Siegel & Gale, before being ditched in 2000 by Landor.

Accompanying the logo timelines are plenty of classic examples of the logos in use in brand campaigns and advertising.

Logo Life – Life Histories of 100 Famous Logos, by Ron van der Vlugt, is published by BIS Publishers.